Summary: We have been invited to the table to commune with Christ.

“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”

I want you to imagine a scene with me…a scene of beauty and wonder and grace. The King of heaven and earth has prepared a feast in honor of His Son. The table has been prepared, the Son has taken His place at the head, and it is you and I who have been invited to sit and dine and fellowship. As we look around the table we see one another…men and women, boys and girls loved by God, here by invitation. The Son, Jesus Christ, is prepared to receive us as guests and honor us as friends. He has prepared a feast before us.

Can you imagine such a scene? To be asked to eat with the King of Glory? Were He a physical king with a physical kingdom and you and I were invited to feast at his table, we would certainly prepare ourselves for the occasion. Our dress and demeanor and language and disposition would all reflect great joy and honor toward the one who has invited us.

God has indeed prepared a feast in honor of His Son. The Lord’s Supper is symbolic of that feast. I chose to draw your attention to the verse we read in 1 Corinthians for a couple of reasons. First, it is the only place in the Bible where the Lord’s Supper is referred to as communion. But secondly, and more specifically, because I want you to understand what that word communion means in relation to the Lord’s Supper.

The word communion comes from the Greek word koinonia and it means partnership, participation, fellowship or intercourse. In other words, it is the joining of two or more into one. That’s why Paul continued in 1 Corinthians 10:17 by saying,

“For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?”

The word partakers comes from the same Greek word as communion. Paul’s point was simply this – that in coming to the table, whether it be the Lord’s table or an idol’s table, we are joining ourselves to that which it represents. We become one with it and with those who partake of it with us. “We being many are one bread.” Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life, and in communion we commune, become one with one another and most importantly, with Him.

Now, while the Lord’s Supper was a new thing for the people of God, the idea of eating and drinking in His presence was not. For example, find Exodus 24:9-11 in your Bible. When the people of Israel were camped before Mt. Sinai, just after God had given the Ten Commandments, God called the leaders of Israel up to the mountain to meet with him.

“Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: and they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.”

I do appreciated your explanation of communion, however I don't understand the idea of communion just being for your church members. does that mean if I attended your church on a Sunday you have communion I would be denied?

I am a bit troubled by the "invited to participate at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb" as you describe it. Who's marriage feast is it? Well, the groom is Jesus and the bride is the church, right? So does the bride get invited to the Marriage Feast? Not in any culture! The bride is picked up by the groom in the home she grew up in, taken to the marriage ceremony, and then the invited friends are picked up later for the Marriage Feast. We are at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb, not because we are invited, but because we are the bride. In most premill and pretrib interpretations, the Kingdom is likely the Marriage Feast. However, that gets us into various explanations of Eschatology, which we can agree to disagree on. However, the matter of us being invited to the Marriage Feast (better: being there on the strength of our being the bride, rather than being invited) is a matter of simply reading the Scripture. Don't you think?

In my further study of 1 Cor. 10:16&17 I discovered that "partakers" in vs. 17 is metecho (Strongs # 3348), and is not at all related to koinonia (#2842). While the meaning of metecho (lit.: to have with) might be similar to koinonia (joint participation), these words are not in any way related to each other, nor can you claim: "The word partakers comes from the same Greek word as communion." This comment was not well researched. Also somewhat "troubling".